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Russia moves to ban GMO food production

It wasn't too long ago that Monsanto was found guilty in a French court for chemical poisoning. Not only that, but Greece along with Latvia also recently made the move to kick GMOs from their country. They aren't the first ones in Europe to move toward getting GMOs out of their markets, but they are the most recent. Particularly, Greece and Latvia are looking to rid their markets and fields of the MON810 GM Maize.

It looks now like Russia is also going to be joining by making the same move. A senior Russian government official told reporters just this week that the cabinet had decided that any food production in the country will entirely exclude any genetically-modified organisms. They told the public that they have now decided not to use any GMO in food productions, according to Deputy PM Arkady Dvorkovich. Previous to this decision, there had been no limitations on the turnover or production of GMO foods in the country. Along with this recent decision to move away from GMO foods, will bring a new law to be enacted by mid-2017; requiring new legislation that will order obligatory state registration of GMO products that might contact with the environment.

Currently there are roughly 57 registered food products within Russia that do contain GMOs. However, according to recent official statistics, the share of GMO in the Russian food industry has declined and now sits at around 0.01 percent. This means that Russia will be producing nearly 100% non-GMO foods for both their own domestic consumption and for those to be exported. Russia isn't the only one, Hungary and other countries are also moving toward a more GMO-free market. However, the new TPP agreement that is expected to be implemented in the not-so-distant future, might work to undermine these efforts in allowing bio-tech companies to force their products into the market.

It was also recently announced that the Center for Food Safety had launched a lawsuit against The US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Planet Health Inspection Services (APHIS), for having allegedly withheld information on GMOs. The non-profit organization is claiming that the government organization has failed to respond to multiple requests for information. They are initiating the lawsuit in an effort to get real answers. The organization wants to have the court compel APHIS to release the information that it has asked for, and they want to remind this government organization that it must respond to requests about GMO food via Freedom of FOIA requests. The group has vocalized their worry regarding GMO crops damaging the environment, contaminating other crops, and the fact that they promote heavier pesticide use.